Glyceride cleavage is typically performed in industry using high-temperature steam treatment which does not discriminate between saturated and unsaturated fatty acid or fatty acid chain length. The use of enzymes, particularly lipases, as catalysts for efficient glyceride splitting at mild, low energy-demanding conditions would offer many economic advantages over these prior methods. The use of a selective lipase for the preparation of high purity oleic acid from fats or oils containing low levels of oleic acid would offer additional economic advantages over these prior methods.